Babies exposed to opioids while their mothers were pregnant with them may need special care even before they start to experience withdrawal symptoms, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.

Embargo expired:

Alcohol and drug problems are often described as ‘chronically relapsing’ conditions, implying that multiple recovery attempts are needed before an addiction can be overcome for good. However, a new study by researchers at Harvard Medical School indicates that most people with an alcohol or drug problem achieve resolution after a surprisingly small number of serious quit attempts.

Embargo expired:

Surgical patients receiving the opioid tramadol have a somewhat higher risk of prolonged use than those receiving other common opioids, new Mayo Clinic research finds. However, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) classifies tramadol as a Schedule IV controlled substance, meaning it's considered to have a lower risk of addiction and abuse than Schedule II opioids, such as oxycodone and hydrocodone.

Embargo expired:

As states crack down on doctor and pharmacy “shopping” by people who misuse opioids, a new study reveals how often those individuals may still be able to find opioids to misuse in their family medicine cabinets. For every 200 patients prescribed opioids, one had a family member whose opioid-misuse problem led them to seek the drugs from multiple prescribers and multiple pharmacies.

Embargo expired:

Escaping the grip of opioid addiction doesn’t come easily for anyone. But a new study reveals sharp racial and financial divides in which Americans receive effective treatments for opioid addiction. Those differences have only grown larger as the national opioid crisis has intensified, the research shows.

Although opioids play a key role in reducing pain when recovering from surgery, some patients transition to chronic users and become dependent on them. In order to find out what situations result in patients continuing to refill their opioid prescriptions after a surgery, Johns Hopkins researchers scoured a database of more than 900,000 people who had a surgery scheduled and were prescribed opioids for the first time.

A day-long summit on opioid-related topics will focus on bringing findings from research and community-based efforts to those who can use them to make a difference in public policy and clinical practice.

One negative behavior such as substance abuse or heavy alcohol drinking can lead college students toward a vicious cycle of poor lifestyle choices, lack of sleep, mental distress and low grades, according to new research from Binghamton University, State University of New York.